I can no longer count the times that I've needed to thank - and credit - Seattle Coffee Gear for their reviews, videos, assistance, and support over the last many years... but yet again here we a... (read more)

The finals of the United States Barista Championship are in, and Cole McBride of PublicUS in Las Vegas (who competed with coffee roasted by us) took 2nd place in the nation! This is a HUGE accomplishm... (read more)

Cole McBride makes finals in the 2015 United States Barista Championship!
This is the way the competition worked this year... The top two from each regional competition (6 regionals, so 12 compe... (read more)

ABOUT

My entrance into the coffee industry began in late 1989 when I first
moved to Seattle from the small town of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. I was 18,
beginning my freshman year of college, and became quickly enamored with
both the city and the extensive coffee culture here. Eventually, I found
myself a part-time job at the espresso cart in front of Tower Records
(then located at 5th and Mercer). Is it trite to say, that almost
instantly, a “passion was born?” All I know is that within weeks I was
cutting out every coffee-related article I could find, picking up extra
shifts whenever possible, and practicing-to-make-perfect the arts of the
barista.

Flash forward 25 plus years and I still find myself pleasantly immersed in all
things coffee. A brief recap of the highlights would have to include a
year at Seattle’s Best (’91 – ’92), where I made many life-long friends –
who would eventually be of utmost importance in my getting into
roasting; 4 years in Hawaii managing cafes and pursuing other
coffee-related avenues; 8 great years managing Bauhaus Books and Coffee
(working for and with the same great friends from SBC days); and when
the owners of Bauhaus (Joel Radin and Mike Klebeck) opened their second
Top Pot Doughnuts location with Mike’s brother Mark and began roasting
their own coffee, I spent 5 years there as head roaster. Altogether, I
worked at a total of 9 different coffeehouses during this span, never
doubting that coffee would always play a huge role in my life.

Getting into roasting was easily the biggest stepping stone of my
career in coffee to date. It re-sparked my passion for coffee; yet again
I found myself cutting out articles, as well as now cupping
extensively, attending a Roaster’s Guild retreat to network with other
roasters from around the U.S. and world, and practicing with various
roasting techniques and degrees of roast to bring out the best in a
bean. I knew that I’d finally found something that I would never tire
of, never stop learning from, and continue to share with coffee-lovers
everywhere: roasting exceptional quality coffee.

And
thus the birth of Velton’s Coffee! I’m excited to have joined the ranks
of great specialty coffee providers to our wonderful northwest coffee
culture – and beyond. The company is primarily a wholesale outfit at
present, however, all of the beans and blends are made available for
purchase to consumers everywhere via this website.

For those who like to know:

All of the coffee is roasted in small batches on a top of the line
Diedrich IR-12 (12 kilo, or approx. 25 lb. maximum load size), outfitted
with the environmentally friendliest in afterburners (a catalytic
oxidizer), and then promptly packed and sealed in the highest quality
lined bags with one-way degassing valve to ensure maximum freshness.